British Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Verstappen untouchable

For this final free practice session, it was the two Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel who were the first to take to the track. The team that surprised at the beginning of the session was Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton was only two tenths behind Charles Leclerc’s time after twenty minutes of the session. In addition to being fast, George Russell also announced to his team that he was not suffering from any bounce. Comfort and speed are therefore present for the silver arrows.

At the halfway point, Max Verstappen clocked a time of 1’28’386. A time nearly 5 tenths faster than his title rival, Charles Leclerc. But more importantly, it was only 1 tenth faster than Lewis Hamilton. The W13’s qualities in fast corners make it a formidable weapon on the very fast Silverstone circuit.

Alpine continued to impress in Free Practice 3 by placing themselves as the best of the rest. With 20 minutes remaining, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon were respectively in 7th and 8th positions, half a second ahead of Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo. The Enstone-based team is one of the teams that has brought the most improvements to Silverstone.

With 15 minutes remaining, Max Verstappen was asserting himself as the favorite for the pole position by setting a time of 1’27.901. This was 5 tenths faster than his nearest competitor on the time sheet, Charles Leclerc. Sergio Perez joined his teammate at the top of the leaderboard a few minutes later. The Mexican was 4 tenths behind his garage neighbor. With such dominant Red Bulls, Ferrari’s rivals this weekend may not be Red Bull but Mercedes.

The ranking of Free Practice 3 of the British Grand Prix 2022.